


Lilled

by AzelmaandEponine



Series: Nationverse fics [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dreams, EstBela, Estonian Culture, F/M, Hetalia Countries Using Human Names, Jaanipäev, Modern Era, Nationverse, listen estbela is a good ship and there's hardly any content for it, no beta we die like men, rarepairs, so take my shitty fanfic, there's an oc but he's just one of Estonia's citizens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-25
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:15:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23843617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AzelmaandEponine/pseuds/AzelmaandEponine
Summary: On jaanipäev, there is a tradition where single people gather a bouquet of flowers and sleep with it under their pillows in order to discover their soulmates through dreams.  One year, Estonia decides to partake.
Relationships: Belarus/Estonia (Hetalia)
Series: Nationverse fics [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722397
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Lilled

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so. I'm American, so I apologize in advance if I get anything wrong. I did read about jaanipäev and hit up r/Eesti, so that's where most of my information is coming from.
> 
> Oh, and there's some very, very briefly implied AmeLiet and IceLat.

Jaanipäev celebrations were always wild.

The smell of smoke hung in the air, mingling with the scent of barbecue. All around, there was drunken singing and dancing. It was the one night Estonia could cut loose and have fun, instead of the cool and collected business-like nation the others knew.

Estonia intermingled with some of the humans; his clothes were slightly singed from his leap over a bonfire, but was otherwise untouched.

As one of his citizens went on talking about his family , Estonia nodded, taking sips of his Viru Valge.

Gradually, the conversation shifted towards that of lovers.

“My girlfriend and I are going to search for the fern flower later tonight,” the citizen—Kalju—said. The fern flower didn’t exist (as ferns didn’t bloom), and almost everyone knew it; now, it was an excuse for couples to go into the forest together. “Do you have anyone important in your life, Eduard?”

“Oh—ah—no,” Estonia answered. He’d become involved with the occasional human over the years, but none of them lasted, of course. Humans couldn’t know about what he was. “Not at the moment, I’m afraid.”

Kalju cocked his head.

“Oh—are you going to collect a bouquet, then?” he asked. “You never know, you might find out who your soulmate is.”

It wasn’t something Estonia had really done; in the past, he’d always had bigger problems than finding out who he was destined to end up with.

But the world was different now; he was independent. He didn’t live with Russia anymore.

Even Latvia and Lithuania had started to move on—Lithuania had invited America to this year’s _Joninés_ festival. Latvia had actually done something similar, and had invited Iceland to his _Jāņi_ festival.

There was a time when relationships between nations were uncommon because of how fraught with tension relations were, and how easily those relations could change in an instant.

But those days were over; and while Estonia was fairly certain a bouquet of flowers and a dream couldn’t tell him who his soulmate was, it would be fun to do. Then again, maybe it _could_ work. It seemed to work for a lot of his people.

Estonia raised his glass in response.

“I’ll drink to that,” he said, slurring slightly.

* * *

When night fell, Estonia found himself collecting seven different flowers from seven different fields. Even if he’d never done it personally before this, it was still _his_ tradition, and he knew all about it.

The number of flowers tended to vary; the numbers seven, nine, and twelve were all important in Estonian folklore. Typically, it was tied to familial traditions, but unless one counted Finland, Estonia didn’t _have_ a family. He didn’t even remember his mother, and Finland was more like his cousin.

Now that it was later, his head was clearer and he was much more sober than he’d been several hours ago.

When he finished, Estonia pulled the seven flowers into a bouquet. After getting home, he slipped them under his pillow and changed into his pajamas and slipped into bed.

He was asleep within minutes.

* * *

_The sky was swirling with snow; Estonia pressed onwards, not sure what he was looking for. He just knew it was important._

_There was a lone figure up ahead; certain this was it, he pressed onwards. As he drew closer, the figure became clearer._

_It was a petite woman, in a dress. She had long platinum blonde hair, adorned with a ribbon. He approached her, and her eyes, a deep violet, met his._

_A faint smile graced her face; she was beautiful._

_“Vitaju, Eduard,” the woman said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”_

_“Natalya,” he breathed. He reached out and caressed her face, and—_

Estonia woke with a start.

Belarus. He’d dreamed about _Belarus._

He reached under his pillow; the flowers were still there.

_Belarus…_

He shook his head; he’d known Belarus for a long time, even if they hadn’t spoken to each other all that often. She was pretty, of course, but did he _like_ her? Or was he just thinking about her because he’d dreamed about her?

True, they’d taken some steps in recent years--mainly in cultural exchange—but still.

It was just a dream. Logically, Estonia _knew_ it didn’t mean he was in love with Belarus.

Content with that, he reached for his laptop and logged into Tumblr. 

Even as he scrolled through his dashboard, Belarus remained on the back of his mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Joninés is the Lithuanian celebration of jaanipäev.
> 
> Jāņi is the Latvian equivalent.
> 
> Vitaju is Belarusian for hello, according to my research.
> 
> And Finland being Estonia's cousin is a headcanon, since they're both Uralic languages.
> 
> I've also read about Estonian-Belarusian relations, and there seems to be quite a bit of cultural sharing.


End file.
